Nepal on Wednesday signed a MoU with Petro China in order to import all kinds of fuel from China, ending a long-held monopoly of buying fuel from the Indian Oil Corp (IOC).

Nepal Oil Corp (NOC) and Petro China signed the pact in Beijing following an unofficial trade and fuel embargo from India against Nepal for the past one month, officials here said.

The MoU's content was not immediately known. It is not clear how much fuel Nepal will import from China right away.

With the de facto Indian embargo, Nepal has faced serious shortage of fuel, medicines and other essential commodities.

The Wednesday MoU paves the way for Nepal to import fuel from China, Nepal's ambassador to China Mahesh Maskey told the Nepali media after the agreement was signed.

A Nepali team negotiated with Chinese officials on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Jhang Tong of Petro China and Gopal Bahadur Khadka of Nepal Oil Corp signed the deal.

Nepal buys over $1.3 billion of gasoline from Indian Oil Corp annually.

Nepalese and Indian officials had only two months back signed a petroleum pipeline deal.

Nepal has not imported any gasoline from China in the past. It has been buying fuel only from IOC.

Besides commercial import of fuel from China, Beijing has also pledged to provide Nepal with 1.3 million liters of gasoline to cope with increasing fuel crisis in Nepal.

This fuel will be provided as a grant by China.

The ongoing fuel shortage has forced the closure of thousands of schools and taken off thousands public and private vehicles off the roads, hitting Nepal's economy hard.

Disclaimer: Information, facts or opinions expressed in this news article are presented as sourced from IANS and do not reflect views of Moneylife and hence Moneylife is not responsible or liable for the same. As a source and news provider, IANS is responsible for accuracy, completeness, suitability and validity of any information in this article.

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FTII students who went on strike on June 12 against the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as its chairman returned to their classes on Wednesday but said protests against the BJP member will go on.

The Film and Television Institute of India students said they will continue to protest in a "peaceful and democratic manner" against Chauhan, who they say is not fit to head the country's premier film institute.

Ranjit Nair, spokesperson for the Students Association, told IANS that the strike was over.

"We have come to realize, after our long-stretched negotiations with the government, that the government is a bully," a miffed Nair said.

He said the students will now invite people from all over the country who face similar problems.

"The strike will escalate now... It's time to register our protest all over again and take it to different heights," Nair said.

He said filmmakers and academics should come forward and take the protests forward in Mumbai.

The students held multiple meetings with officials of the information and broadcasting ministry but there was no end to the stalemate.

The government refused to buckle over Chauhan, forcing the student community to blink.

Chauhan congratulated the students for ending the strike, and told IANS over telephone that it was time for them to return to their classes.

The decision to end the strike followed the government's "incongruous approach" towards the students' cause, said another student leader, Reema Kaur.

"The 139 days of strike have not only made us stronger but more aware of the state that we today live in," said Kaur, a final year student of editing and a part of the core committee of the Students Association that spearheaded the strike.

"We voiced ourselves loud and clear but it is the government's adamant stand and incongruous approach towards our valid demands that has made us completely lose faith," Kaur told IANS.

"Looking at the ministry's unrelenting approach and the amount of our valuable time spent, we have decided to end the strike and resume classes.

"However, our voices will not shut, but grow louder. The protests shall continue democratically and in the peaceful manner as they have," Kaur added.

Disclaimer: Information, facts or opinions expressed in this news article are presented as sourced from IANS and do not reflect views of Moneylife and hence Moneylife is not responsible or liable for the same. As a source and news provider, IANS is responsible for accuracy, completeness, suitability and validity of any information in this article.

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MOHAN

1 year ago

FTII strike is a left sponsored strike and it failed.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to order blanket ban on firecrackers on Diwali, and expressed its displeasure over the central government's failure to carry out its earlier directive to give wide publicity to the ill effects the bursting of crackers has and the sound and air pollution it causes.

The apex court bench of Chief Justice H.L. Dattu and Justice Arun Mishra asked the Centre and other authorities to start publicity campaign both in print and electronic media on the harmful impact of firecrackers during the festival season from October 31 to November 12.

Having directed the central government to undertake the publicity campaign to educate people, the court reiterated its earlier order prohibiting the bursting of firecrackers during the night hours from 10.00 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Disclaimer: Information, facts or opinions expressed in this news article are presented as sourced from IANS and do not reflect views of Moneylife and hence Moneylife is not responsible or liable for the same. As a source and news provider, IANS is responsible for accuracy, completeness, suitability and validity of any information in this article.